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Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up standard;
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
An on-line reunion
ometimes people ask me howl, as a member of the very
< liberal newspaper industry, came to be a conservative.
The answer is that I’ve been around liberals enough to
ow that we don’t want them running —— well, anything.
My first and most lasting introduction to leftists was in Newport,
Rhode Island, ,where I went to boarding school
St George’s School is a beautiful place. A gothic chapel sits
perched among red-brick Colonial
classroom buildings and dorms,
overlooking a grassy bluff and the
Atlantic Ocean. It’s a picture of tradi-
tion, excellence and charm.
Don’t let appearances fool you.
Like most of New England, indeed
like most educational institutions, St
George’s was and is ahotbed of politi-
cal correctness and hard-core liberal— ‘
ism And it’s also the place where Fox
News’ Tucker Carlson went to
school, graduating just a few years
before me. ' '
And so on Monday, the adminis- "
trator of our St. George’s Class of 1992
Facebook page struck out to post this:
“Hi all, happy summer. Hope
everyone is well. For those of you out
there opposed to the racist hate speech that is swirling around in
this country and fueling violence (that I hope has not impacted any
of you or your loved ones), please consider adding your name to a
letter signed by a long list of alumni who are asking the school to
break ties with Tucker Carlson (who was recently used as an auction
item amongst other things). Please comment here or message me
if you are interested in joining other alums in the school to
stand behind their purported values. Thanks!”
Ah, nothing brings a graduating class together like a good old
ex-communication.
In case you missed it, Carlson did a monologue the other day on
his Fox show explaining that white supremacy is not a real
that it’s a hoax just like Russian collusion used to hammer Trump.
Carlson noted that there is no discernible white supremacy move—
ment in the country; that he’s never met anyone who claimed to be
a white supremacist. Neither have I. Have you? It’s merely the latest
club that the left is using to try to whack Trump and his supporters.
It’s just hateful slander.
On a page dedicated to keeping up with classmates, I thought it
was tacky to bring up politics, and I couldn’t keep my fingers shut.
As comedian Ron White famously said, “I had the right to remain
silent, but I did not have the ability.”
I pointed out to my fellow Dragons that former Vermont gover-
nor and Democratic presidential candidate Howard “The Scream”
Dean is also an SG alum, and he offends ME greatly Yet I don’t urge
our school to banish him.
“If you want to send the message that SC is another liberal bastion
that crushes dissent and anyone who thinks original thoughts,” I
wrote, “this seems like a good way to do it.’ ’
I went on to say that ve lived in Georgia for 27 years and had yet
to meet anyone who advocates white supremacy.
My old chum Candace Gottschalk, who lives in New York City,
would have none of it.
“I imagine it would be easy for you to agree that white supremacy
isn’ t a problem,” wrote Gottschalk “You are a white male who
included an image of the confederate flag on your senior page. Just
last week, my husband, who is black, went to the farmer’s market
and was asked by the vendor if he was looking for collard greens,
because you know, black people only eat collard greens. Racism is
everywhere. You do not see it because you are never the victim of it.”
Really? So now her husband is a victim of racism because they
asked him if he wants collard greens? My gosh, I LOVE collard
greens. Are we really sitting around waiting to be offended? Can
you imagine growing up with people like this?
But the Angry Yankees of my youth weren’t done yet.
Cameron Goodyear finally pronounced judgment on me for the
entire group.
“I think that the that offend you (Howard Dean) and the
things that don’t offend you (racist comments) really speak to your
privilege,” she wrote. v
And there it is. I am guilty of the original sin of white privilege.
Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Crucifyhim!
Thankfully, while these guilt trips used to work on me, no longer.
Their white guilt is their problem, not mine. They can grove] in their
self—hatred and parade their bleeding hearts all day in a futile effort
at redemption. But when I left New England, I left that crap behind.
Why am I a conservative? Because I know liberals. There is no
grace there. No love there. Only hatred and judgment and petti-
ness. I joined the St George’s Facebook page hoping to find old high
school classmates. Instead all I found was high school.
the Monroe County
porter
www.MyMCR.net
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President or Robert M. Williams Jr., Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-Treasurer
“OUR STAFF
‘ ‘ Trellis Grunt
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Official Organ of Monro. County and the City of Forsyih
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Periodicals Postage Paid at Forsyth, GA 31029
POST MASTER: Send address changes to:
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A‘
- DeadiriesnoanonFridaypriormissuetnmmtsfeamredonoplriion
pagesarethecreaflonof
wmnmmvmmmwmmmmmmm
Publication No. USPS 997-340
EDITORIALS
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PEACH STATE POLITICS by Kyle Wingtield
Kemp wise to pore spending
follows.
A memo from Kelly
Farr, head of the Gover-
nor’s Oflice of Planning
and Budget, asserts Kemp
“is committed to funda-
mentally reforming state
government to make
it more responsive and
accessible to our citizens,
improve program out-
en it comes comes, and reduce costs to
to state gov- taxpayers.” Farr explains
ernment, we Kemp is seeking “ways to
have been streamline processes, better
conditioned to think of leverage technology, reduce
spending cuts as ominous. duplication of efforts, and
The state must balance its innovate”
budget, so Importantly,
' spending the memo notes
cuts osten— revenues for
sibly mean the budget year
falling that ended June
revenues — 30 “exceed(ed)
and falling estimates”
revenues and Georgia’s
mean a economy “re-
shrinking mains strong.”
economy. 1 Given that June
But what marked Geor-
if spending gia’s 13th straight
cuts were month with
just that: %4 W a jobless rate
a cut in below 4%, and
spending, set a new record
regardless of the amount for most jobs in the state,
of revenue coming in or it’s hard to argue.
the state of the economy? Working now to find
Pretty novel concept, huh? efficiencies and invest in
That appears to be Gov. technology takes a page
Brian Kemp’s thinking from Aesop’s fable, “The
with his directive to state .Ant and the Grasshopper”:
agencies to prepare to cut Work hard while times are
their spending by 4% in the good, rather than waiting
budget year that began July until times turn hard.
1, and 6% in the one that But much of the reaction
is reminiscent of “Chicken
Little.” Kemp is cutting
spending? The sky must be
falling!
No one can predict the
future, but it doesn’t appear
that’s the case. Trade wars
and possible currency wars
and recent gyrations in
the stock market notwith-
standing, the US economy
continues to grow steadily
if unspectacularly. The
expansion begun after the
Great Recession extends its
own records for longevity
with each positive quarter.
That said, no law says
additional revenues must
be spent ~ or that spend—
ing can’t be cut even as
revenues grow. Put another
way: Who’s to say the cur-
rent level of spending is
optimal, or that the only
way to make it better is
to spend more? Keeping
lawmakers’ promise to con—
tinue lowering the state’s
top income—tax rate, for
example, would keep more
money in more-productive
hands.
Since bottoming out in
2010, state revenues have
grown by almost 70% to
some $27.5 billion. Spend—
ing has grown by more
than $1 billion per year
on average for an entire
decade.
Much of that additional
spending reflects growth in
enrollment in k-12 schools,
higher education and
programs such as Medicaid
— a trend likely to continue.
Certainly, there was some
shoring up of agencies bat—
tered by so—called austerity
cuts, and raises for teachers
and state employees who
went years without one. Of
course, Kemp’s predecessor,
Nathan Deal, also rebuilt
the state’s reserves to some
$2.5 billion along the way.
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All of which is to say:
Georgia’s finances and op-,
erations needn’t have been
mismanaged to stand a
chance of being improved.
What’s more, some big—
ticket items may well re—
quire cuts elsewhere. Kemp
has made it clear he intends
to complete the annual
$5,000 raise he promised
teachers, $3,000 of which is
in the current budget. That
will cost a chunk of change.
Another example: The
federal government may
well require Georgia to
invest in the reinsur-
ance program Kemp is
contemplating creating
as part of the Affordable
Care Act “waiver” he is
seeking. It should lead to.
lower health-insurance
premiums, helping more,
Georgians afford cover-
age, and it could save both
state and federal taxpayers
money before long. But
for now, that money has to
come from somewhere.
Agree or disagree with
those priorities, it’s clear
that’s just what they are: the
priorities of the man Geor—
gians elected governor.
And there’s no clearer or
more effective way to pur-
sue one’s policy priorities
than through the budget.
The president and CEO
of the Georgia Public Policy
Foundation, Kyle Wing-
field’s column runs in papers
around the state of Georgia.
TAKING A llKENS TO YOU by Dale likens
Heroes spoke out against Hitler
parents gave that we might enjoy the
freedoms we do today.
All I can truly say I remember about
World War II was a deep, dark mem-
ory of my uncle Ray coming into my
bedroom when I was a two-year-old
child lying in my crib.I remember a
blue nightlight casting a faint image
of him standing above. my crib reach-
ing down'to kiss me goodbye while
my mOther, my grandmother and my
aunt stood beside him crying. I knew
he was going to someplace called
Pearl Harbor. I knew his leaving was
a terrible thing because of all the .
crying. As the next few years passed
I began to listen as my parents, my
grandparents and those around me
began to speak of the war and read
some of the letters my uncle Ray was
sending home from faraway coun—
tries. That’s about all I knew of the
actual pain of WorldWar II.
ew of us today remember As I began to mature into child-
much about World War II. hood I do recall the scrap metal
Of course we recall the little drives. I recall the fOOd stamps and
that our history books of our my mother and thousands of other
younger school days told us about women going to work to take the
a wicked man named Adolf Hitler places of those men and women who
from a far-away place called Ger- had given the ultimate to keep our
many. country free.
Occasionally we As I became an adult I
watch a few documen- began to wonder how the
taries of World War II entire country of Ger-
on television and we many could become so
hear about the genera— enthralled and spellbound
tion we now know as by a man named Adolf
the Greatest Genera- Hitler. Once a Christian
tion. We watch movies nation; now turning to
of John Wayne and other gods. How could an
other famous movie ‘ entire nation hate the Jews
actors and actresses of as they did? How could
the late 30’s and 40’s they allow such things as
as they portray a few the concentration carnps
of our true heroes of to exist? Did anyone in
thOSe days and we do , Germany or other nearby
get a small idea of the e [J countries see the hatred
great sacrifices many of this man possessed? Then
our parents and grand- one day I read about a
man who did hate and despise all that
as happening in Germany: a man
who boldly began to speak against the
power of Adolf Hitler. Perhaps there
were many more, but this one man
who courageously stood by his faith
in God was Dietrich Bonhoeffer!
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a brave
German pastorlborn in Wreclow, Po-
land who saw the evil in Adolf Hitler
and quickly became a Nazi dissident.
You might imagine how strong he
must have been to speak out against
Adolf Hitler and a nation that seemed
to give its entire support to all his
atrocities!
Dietrich BonhOeffer did not grow
up in a particularly religious home as
one might expect. He did, however,
join a church when he was 14 and
- became a priest at 25. A man named
Adolf Hitler suddenly rose to power
in Germany four years later. Seeing
the hatred of Jews and the love of
power this man possessed, Dietrich
Bonhoeffer began speaking against
Adolf Hitler. Other church leaders
would not dare speak against Adolf
Hitler and Dietrich became frus-
trated. Forming a Confessing Church
he spoke openly against Adolf Hitler
and his anti-semitism. But now his
own church became too frightened
to speak against Adolf Hitler and his
Nazi leadership. '
Seeking asylum in the United States,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer realized his
love for Germany and the wonderful
people he loved so dearly in Germany
so he returned to Nazi Germany
to fight his cause. Although he was
always considered a pacifist he now
joined a group whose mission was to
assassinate Adolf Hitler.
In April of 1945, one month before
Germany surrendered, Dietrich BOn-
hoeffer was hanged.
Among his many powerful quotes
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is perhaps re-
membered for his famous quote, “To
not speak is to speak volumes!”
But one quote} found very interest-
ing was one he called a poem: “In
Germany, they came for the commu»
nists and I did not speak out because
I was not a communist.
Then they came for the Jews and I
did not speak out because I was not
a Jew.
Then they came for the Trade
Unions and I did not speak out be—
cause I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics
and I did not speak out because I was
a Protestant.
Then they came for me and by that
time no one was left to speak up for
me!” ,
God bless!
Dale Likens is an author who lives in
Monroe County.
Bdck in June, Monroe County taxpayers paid $2,765 for
an investigative report Into county employee's allego-
tion that commissioner Larry Evans harassed her for not
hiring his "niece". But commissioners have refused to let
the taxpayers, who paid for the report,
kept it hidden from public view. Only District 3 com-
missioner John Ambrose supports letting
' it. if you think you have the right to see
your commissioner or call the office at 994-7000 (and let
them know. Meanwhile, we will count the days they've
kepnheir constituents in the dark until it‘s released.
see it. They've' '
the public see
the report, tell
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